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A lot of people bemoan cash for clunkers but it does a lot of the general level of safety and pollution on the road. A voluntary culling of select cars/trucks
by shiftpgdn 6y ago
A lot of people bemoan cash for clunkers but it does a lot of the general level of safety and pollution on the road. A voluntary culling of select cars/trucks is generally good for the world.
- SilasX 6y agoTrue, but then, lots of programs look good if you only look at benefits and ignore costs.
- tricky 6y agoI feel like cash for clunkers destroyed a lot of value, prices went up, and consumers got little out of it.
- icelancer 6y agoMost economists agree with you. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_Allowance_Rebate_System#Economic_effects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_Allowance_Rebate_System#Ec...
- cpursley 6y agoCash for clunkers mostly hurt the working class as it resulted in higher used car prices (and higher financing costs due to compound interest effect on higher prices + higher interest rates for used cars). Unfortunately, in the USA, you can't get to work (or even purchase groceries) without a vehicle with the exception of a few places.
- userbinator 6y agoThe problem is that culling destroyed a lot of vehicles which were in very good condition, while leaving plenty of other unsafe ones. It was agonisingly painful to hear stories of freshly restored classic cars getting destroyed because of that, while countless others in much worse condition remained on the roads.
- sgerenser 6y agoWhat? Nobody was trading in a freshly restored classic car for a $3500 rebate on a Ford Focus (or other similarly boring fuel efficient vehicle).
- johnvanommen 6y agoIf someone wanted to improve the environment, buying an old car and junking it is a great way to do it. The emissions levels of cars from the 70s and 80s are just off-the-charts, compared to modern cars.